Episode 1263: Around the Majors in 36 Days
Date August 29, 2018 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan have a possibly premature discussion of whether Shohei Ohtani lived up to the preseason hype, then answer listener emails about the Angels’ historic record in two-run games, the last player who’ll be older than them, using expected offensive stats instead of actual ones in WAR, and David Robertson’s far-fetched contract incentives, plus a Stat Blast about the teams that have played the highest and lowest percentages of their games against above-.500 opponents. Then (42:32) they bring on listener (and Episode 1169 guest) Michael Mountain to review his 36-day, 30-ballpark whirlwind tour, including the hurdles he cleared along the way and his reviews of his favorite and least favorite ballparks and ballpark foods. Lastly (1:12:18), Ben brings on Angelina, the artist behind the Twitter account “Acceptably Drawn Baseball,” to talk about how she started doing baseball doodles, how and why the account has caught on, how she produces the doodles, and how she got Rich Hill’s seal of approval. Topics * Angel's record in 2 run games * Last player older than Ben and Jeff to play * Expected WAR * Interesting incentives * Trip delays * Keeping of notes * Meet ups * When did Michael hit “the wall” * What game or games stood out * Favorites and least favorites * Cost of trip * Concessions * Do you still like baseball * Would you recommend this * Getting a foul ball * Getting into baseball drawings * Getting into baseball * Future in art * Rich Hill doodle * Whats next Intro * Tegan and Sara, "Hype" Interstitial * Dave Rawlings Machine, "The Trip" * The Kinks, "The Road" Outro * Bob Dylan, "Farewell, Angelina" Banter * Shohei Ohtani season Email Questions * Jeff: I'm a lifelong Angels fan and for years have kept an ever more complex spreadsheet that tracks game results. One thing on that sheet that jumps out at me this year is the Angels' record in 2-run games, which is currently 4-23. This seems like a crazy outlier for a team that has hovered around .500 for most of the year. Is this just pure weirdness? Or might there be some reason why a team would be awful in 2-run games? * Dave:''' '''I've been enjoying the recent discussions surrounding baseball and our common mortality. (Maybe you're both trying to improve your podcasting skills by reminding yourselves of your ultimate destination.) Anyway, I am now 43 years old, and Bartolo Colon is the last remaining MLB player older than I. It will be a sad day for me when he retires. My question for you both: Who do you predict will be your Bartolo Colon? Who will be the last player older than you to be playing in the Major Leagues? * Xander: Email question for you: has there been any attempt to use xWOBA instead of WOBA to create an xWAR stat? Obviously this stat would show what their value should be rather than how much value they have actually added, but it would be a useful indicator of talent. What are your thoughts on this? Which players would be at the top of this leaderboard that are different than the current leaderboard? * Dan: I just learned on a Yankee blog that David Robertson has some interesting bonuses in his contract, including for starting the all-star game and winning a gold glove, as well as for finishing anywhere between 1st and 5th in MVP voting. Hypothetically how good would D-Rob have to be to meet any of these awards? StatBlast * The Indians average opponent has been -0.4 runs per game this year. * The 2017 Houston Astros had the most games against teams under .500. Notes * Max Muncy has 40% strikeout rate and is slugging .706. * “Cuz his season made too much sense before, it has to make even less sense now” - Ben on MAx Muncy * “Noone is selling Shohei Ohtani, but were buying him" - Jeff * The 1943 Cardinals had the best record in 2 run games, the worst are the 1956 Kansas City Athletics and the 2018 Los Angeles Angels. * “That's why Bartolo Colon is still playing, hes got 2 families to got home to" - Jeff. Links https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/effectively-wild-episode-1263-around-the-majors-in-36-days/ Link to Michael’s road-trip itinerary Link to tweet about Hill endorsing his doodle Link to Ohtani/Trout doodle Link to buy Angelina a coffee Category:Episodes Category:Guest Episodes Category:Email Episodes